June 7, 2015. We spent three hours at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center this morning and about four hours driving this afternoon. With time out for lunch and diesel, we managed a scant 170 miles today. Tonight, we are in the nicest commercial campground we've seen so far on this trip. It is owned by a group called G-7, a family business which owns campgrounds in Oregon, Idaho and Arizona. The grounds are manicured, there's a pool (unfilled), a dog park and the sites are concrete and level. Each site has a yard lamp and a picnic table.
Time spent at the Oregon Trail Center was time well spent. It was an impressive display of the history of the 300,000-plus emigrants who traveled from Missouri to Oregon. Another 250,000 turned south to California at Fort Hall, Idaho, seeking gold and quick fortune. Most failed in California. Those bound for Oregon fared better. They were farmers and ranchers. You had to be pretty tough to walk the 2000-mile trail. And, most did walk. There was little room in the wagons after a family's possessions were loaded. And, most preferred walking to the constant jostling of the wagon.
One in ten emigrants failed to complete the journey. Cholera, malaria and other sickness took the lives of many travelers. River crossings, accidental discharge of guns, falling under wagon wheels and Indians took the lives of many more. Surprisingly, comparatively few lives were lost to Indians, fewer than 400. More Indians lost their lives to the emigrants. Actually, Indians traded with the wagon trains, often filling the need for protein in the diets of the travelers. One of the great fallacies depicted in western movies is that wagons were circled as a defense to Indian attacks. The wagons were circled at the end of the day to create a corral for livestock.
Of course, no tour of western migration would be complete without mention of Annie's Uncle Bill Sublette. We found his name several times in the Center. In addition to leading the first wagon train along the Platte River, he is credited with charting the Sublette Cutoff and played a role in pointing wagon trains through the South Pass, which allowed travelers to cross the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of less than 8,000 feet. Many travelers didn't realize they had crossed the Continental Divide until they saw streams running west rather than east.
We continue our eastward travels tomorrow. My guess is that we will finish the day either in eastern Utah or western Wyoming. But then, we may find something else which demands our attention. We have no firm deadline for arriving home other than it will be sometime this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment